


I Love You a Latte

by teeandrainbows



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: A Very Becho Valentine, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Background Marper, Bellamy is a nerd, F/M, Falling In Love, First Kiss, Fluff, Minor Clarke Cameo, Minor Jasper Cameo, Minor Luna Cameo, Minor Miller Cameo, Minor Spacekru Cameos, Siblings!Echo and Roan, This is pure fluff, valentines day, valentines day fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-15
Updated: 2019-02-15
Packaged: 2019-10-28 16:48:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,044
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17791082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teeandrainbows/pseuds/teeandrainbows
Summary: Echo didn't do Valentines Day... until she did.The gift I wrote for Pawprinterfanfic for A Very Becho Valentines on Tumblr!





	I Love You a Latte

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Pawprinter](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pawprinter/gifts).



> This work is dedicated to the wonderful Pawprinter, who I'm very glad to have discovered officially!
> 
> This work was written for the A Very Becho Valentine Gift Exchange on tumblr! Find me there at princessechoblake.
> 
> Hope you enjoy it!

Echo Mendes didn’t do Valentines Day.

“It’s just another damn day when the stores jack up the prices and men trip over themselves trying to prove that they’re a good enough partner,” she complained, doing her hair up in a ponytail. Her foster brother sighed.

“Something you have said every year for the past 13 years,” Roan replied dryly, stepping onto his yoga mat. Echo rolled her eyes and sank to the floor, settling herself in a meditative pose.

“Because it’s true. Valentines Day sucks,” she said, closing her eyes and breathing in deeply. She could hear Roan settling in beside her. Together, the pair went through their yoga routine. It was something they had started the tenth year she had been living with the Azgeda family, during her health craze phase, and they still did it together ten years later, two times a week. Yoga was one of the few things that relaxed Echo, and she could tell it helped Roan too, especially since his mother passed away two years ago. The pair were nearly inseparable, except when Roan was in a meeting.

In fact, most people upon meeting them usually assumed they were together. Echo always laughed at that. Her and Roan? Hardly likely. He was her brother, and he always told things to her straight.

“You know, one of these days, E…” Roan murmured as they ended their session, “you are going to meet someone, and you’re finally going to see the value of this holiday.”

“Not likely,” Echo scoffed, turning off the meditative music that had been playing. “It’ll be a cold day in hell before I see Valentines Day as anything other than what it is – a cash hog for big corporations.” She rolled up her mat, glancing over at her brother. “You have fun with Luna, though, mkay?”

Roan chuckled, rolling up his own mat. “I will. She’s letting me take her out for a candlelit dinner. Never thought that would happen,” he said, storing his mat in the closet. Echo grinned.

“Wow, what a good boyfriend you are,” Echo teased him, storing her own mat away before stepping towards the door. “See you.”

With that, she was gone, out of his apartment and across the street to her place.

= = = = =

Two months later, Echo met Bellamy Blake. Or rather, re-met him.

While on a coffee run, her usual place was overcrowded so she asked around and found a hole-in-the-wall place around the corner. Best coffee in town, apparently. She didn’t care, as long as it was caffeinated. Inside, there was a single barista behind the counter, standing at an espresso machine while a petite girl stood, waiting. There were no other customers in sight, so Echo was starting to doubt the ‘best place in town’ accolade that had been attached to the place.

“There you go,” the barista said, handing two cups over the counter to the girl. She smiled and thanked him, a little too excitedly.

“The boys really need this. Monty’s been up all night and Jasper’s going on maybe 36 hours of no sleep. I’m almost worried about them,” the customer chirped. The barista laughed, and Echo arched an eyebrow. He had a curly mop of brown hair on top of his head and a bit of a beard. He was also incredibly familiar to her.

“See you, Bell!” With that, the girl left the shop, the bell over the door jingling, and Echo was alone in the small sitting room with the barista.

“Hey there,” he said, his voice low and yet strangely inviting. There was an easy grin stretched across his face. Echo nodded, offering a small smile in return.

“Hi. Could I get… two coffees, black?” she said, stepping up to the counter. The barista, Bell (a strange name), arched an eyebrow.

“Medium or dark roast? Or we have vanilla flavoured today, too,” he said, shrugging a shoulder. “And what size?”

Echo blinked. “Um. Whatever’s the most caffeinated, I guess. And large,” she replied, digging into her tiny purse for some change. The barista merely smiled and rang up her order, and she paid for it.

While she waited, he shocked her by speaking more. “Haven’t seen you in here before. I know most of the customers that come in here, but you’re a new face.” Echo blinked again, shrugging.

“My usual place was packed, and someone recommended here. Good location, I guess. Right by the college,” she replied. The barista laughed.

“Yeah, we get a few college students in here. Not too many people know about us, though. You’re a student?” he asked, handing the two cups of coffee over to her. Echo took them.

“Yeah. Well, I go to Polis, uptown. But my brother works around here, so… here I am,” she replied, glancing around. “Which reminds me. Tray?”

He nodded quickly, pulling one out from behind the counter. “Here,” he said, “sorry about that.” Echo nodded politely and turned to leave after placing both cups in the tray. As she got to the door, she heard him speak again. “Hey, what was your name again?”

She glanced over her shoulder at him. “Echo,” she answered with an arched eyebrow. The barista seemed to do a double take, but she couldn’t be sure.

“Bellamy,” he replied, quickly, before Echo stepped out onto the street with the two coffees, waving back at him over her shoulder.

She got ten paces down the street before it dawned on her, why he had looked so familiar, why he seemed to recognize her name. She stopped short.

“Crap,” she muttered, nearly losing the tray of coffees as someone bumped into her from behind. “Yeah, yeah, whatever,” she said, more loudly, to the disgruntled pedestrian, “just go around me!”

= = = = =

“Wait… you’re telling me he tutored you?” Roan asked, from the other treadmill. Echo groaned, pressing the button to increase the speed on hers.

“Yeah. And it ended… badly. It was right when there was that huge mess between Polis and Arcadia. I just stopped going to his place,” she said, picking up her pace.

“And he definitely recognized you?”

Echo increased the speed again. “Oh, yes. Not sure… how he feels, though…”

After that, both fell silent as they finished their runs.

= = = = =

A month later, Echo found her coffee shop crowded again, so she once again sought out that tiny place. It had a strange name, The Dropship, but she figured there was some sort of reference in there.

There were no customers in the shop, just Bellamy behind the counter. His back was to the door, and he was doing a weird sort of shuffling dance to the jazz music currently playing on the radio as he washed dishes. Echo walked up to the counter and cleared her throat.

Bellamy turned around quickly, his hands still covered in soap suds. “Sorry about that—oh, hey. Echo, right?”

She nodded, glancing down at the counter for a moment. “That’s me. You really do know your customers, huh?”

“Yeah, like I said, we don’t get too many people in here. And I’m good with remembering faces, too…” he trailed off, and Echo felt a pang of guilt.

“Is that your way of telling me—”

“That I know you’re that Polis student I was tutoring for a while until you stopped showing up? Yeah.”

Echo bit the inside of her cheek.

“You really do have quite the memory. That was what, three years ago?” she asked, arching an eyebrow and putting on a stoic face, one that Nia had taught her years ago.

“Two, actually. But no hard feelings. I get it was probably weird, trying to come to our side of town… but I would have appreciated some kind of note, or a message, or… something?” Bellamy said. The way he said it didn’t sound accusatory, but Echo still could tell he was hurt.

“Look… if I could make it up to you…” she started, tucking a stray piece of hair behind her ears.

“There’s this thing. At the college. Kind of a fancy thing. I could use a date,” he interrupted her. Her other eyebrow joined its twin. That was bold and unexpected. But with the look on his face, she didn’t know how to say no.

“I… sure,” she replied, pulling out a small datebook from her purse, “when is it?”

He eagerly told her the date and time, and she wrote it down.

“And that was two large medium roasts, black, right?” he asked, when she glanced back up.

“Your memory scares me,” she replied dryly. He laughed.

Damn. His laugh was contagious.

= = = = =

“Zip me up, will you?”

“Look at my little sister, all dolled up for her date.”

“It’s not a date, it’s a… favour.”

“Right. And I’m not a CEO of a credit union.”

“Shut up and zip me.”

= = = = =

She had to admit, it was a fun evening. Echo learned that Bellamy was an Education student at Arcadia, and that he was going to be an English teacher. It made sense, considering he had tutored her in English. She in turn revealed to him that she was trying to get her diploma in Public Relations, and he nodded thoughtfully. She also met a few of his friends, including the girl she had seen at the coffee shop that first day (“I’m Harper! Second year student, Psychology”) and the two she had been buying coffee for (“That’s Monty and Jasper, they’re taking Chemistry”). There were a few others, including a blonde medical student, and an engineering student who had a lot of questions for her, but by far her most awkward conversation was with a first year Kinesiology student who happened to be Bellamy’s sister. Echo maintained her composure throughout the evening, sipping at her drink from the open bar, until it seemed that most people had left.

“Thanks for coming,” Bellamy said, sidling up next to her. Echo turned, arching an eyebrow.

“Oh, yeah. It’s been fun, actually… although I’m not too sure your sister likes me.”

Bellamy shrugged. “She’s like that with a lot of people. She’ll warm up to you, though. She’s actually dating a guy from Polis… do you know Lincoln Woods?”

Echo thought back, trying to remember if she had heard that name before. “I’m not sure, but with a name like Woods he probably runs close to Lexa’s crowd,” she commented offhand, taking another sip of her drink. Bellamy nodded thoughtfully.

“He does. I think, at least,” he replied. Echo glanced at him.

“So… what now?” she asked. Bellamy glanced at her, a confused expression on his face.

“How do you mean?”

“I’ve been your fake date for the night, what happens next? Do we get coffee? Do we go back to not contacting each other?” she elaborated.

Bellamy took a long time to respond.

= = = = =

“Well? How was your date?”

“I’ll tell you next Wednesday, after the actual date.”

“Well, that’s new.”

“Shut up, Roan.”

= = = = =

Two months passed, and by that point Echo was pretty sure she had a boyfriend. At least, she saw Bellamy three times a week, and he bought her flowers, and there might have been some hand holding involved.

Roan kept pestering her about meeting him, since she had met Bellamy’s friends, but for some reason Echo was holding off. She wasn’t sure why, but it just didn’t feel like it was time.

She had plans to meet at his place for a movie, and arrived exactly on time, to a flustered Bellamy.

“Hey… you okay?” she asked as she stepped into the apartment, hanging up her coat. Bellamy shook his head, closing the door behind her and locking it.

“I haven’t heard from O in a while,” he admitted. Echo frowned.

“I’m sure everything’s fine,” she said, putting her hand on his shoulder. “I have an in with Lexa’s crowd, and I haven’t heard anything on that end. She’s a teenager, they do weird things when they’re in love.”

Bellamy didn’t seem convinced, but Echo slowly guided him to his sofa. “Look, I’ll look into it. She’s fine,” she soothed him, rubbing his shoulder in small circles. They sat like that for a few minutes, him leaning into her touch. Finally, he sighed.

“I was thinking… Troy tonight?” he asked. Echo grinned. They had been working their way through any and all movies that had something to do with Ancient Greece. Apparently, Bellamy had a secret love.

“Sounds like a plan,” she replied, leaning her head on his shoulder.

They watched the movie with popcorn in a bowl on the coffee table in front of them, and by the end of it Echo was nearly in Bellamy’s lap. She glanced up at him and smiled a lazy smile.

“That was really good,” she murmured.

Later, she wouldn’t be sure who had moved first, but all of a sudden they were kissing each other. It was soft, and relaxed, nothing like the kisses Echo had had before, but she liked it.  
Bellamy’s hand was in her hair, and she raised a hand to his cheek, smiling against his lips.

After that, there was a definite shift. There was no doubt about it now. Echo definitely had a boyfriend. Each of their dates ended with a kiss and she had even stayed the night at his place a couple of times.

= = = = =

“Your birthday is coming up.”

“Yeah, so?”

“You’re spending it with Bellamy, I’m guessing?”

“Actually, I thought it could be you, Luna, Bell, and me.”

= = = = =

Her birthday was in November. When Bellamy arrived at her apartment, she ran to the door and greeted him with a kiss, and he held out a balloon with a small box attached to the end.

“Happy Birthday,” he said, beaming. Echo flushed despite herself and turned around.

“Luna, this is Bellamy,” she announced, glancing at her brother. The two men had finally met the previous month. Luna rose from the sofa, walking over and extending a hand.

“It’s nice to finally meet you. I’ve heard so much about you,” she said, offering a polite smile. Bellamy nodded, shaking her hand.

“The pleasure’s all mine,” he replied, giving a small nod to Roan. Echo beamed and set the package down with the other two gifts. Then she walked over to Bellamy and took his hand in both of hers, leaning against him.

Roan and Luna left rather early after dinner and seeing Echo open her presents.

= = = = =

Life continued as normal. She spent her days at the office, kept her routines with Roan, and saw Bellamy. At Christmas, Bellamy presented her with a tiny box wrapped in silver paper with a translucent ribbon tied around it, and she had opened it to find a simple teardrop pendent necklace with the letter E engraved on it. She in turn gave him a collector’s edition of The Odyssey, which had taken her weeks to track down, as well as a mug that had “best teacher ever” written on it along with a cartoon drawing of an apple.

“I love it,” Bellamy had murmured, pressing a gentle kiss to Echo’s lips. Echo had simply smiled, kissing him back before leaning her head on his shoulder.

“I love you,” she had said, before thinking about it. There had been a long pause, during which Echo had run several scenarios through her head, most of them ending with her walking out of his apartment, before Bellamy finally spoke.

“I love you too,” he had said, kissing the side of her head.

The flames in the fireplace had slowly died down as they curled up against each other, trying to be as close as they could.

= = = = =

“So, I’m… going to ask Luna to marry me on Valentine’s Day.”

“Bold choice. Cliché, but I guess it’ll do.”

= = = = =

As February 14th approached, Echo grew hesitant. Despite being happy in her relationship, she still wasn’t fond of Valentine’s Day. It was just another day to her, and she kept trying to hint to Bellamy that she didn’t want to do anything out of the ordinary. He seemed to be fine with that, although a conversation with Octavia at one of his college functions suggested otherwise.

“All I’m saying is that Bell’s a romantic guy. He’s going to want to do something big, it’s just him,” the girl told her. Echo frowned, shifting uncomfortably.

“I get that, but…” she trailed off.

“Look, I’m not telling you either way, but he’s my brother, and I want to see him happy, and doing big gestures is something that makes him happy,” Octavia said, shrugging. Then she waved at someone over Echo’s shoulder.

“Sorry, I’ve gotta go. Haven’t seen Miller in ages,” she said, walking briskly past Echo, leaving her standing in the middle of the hall, biting her lip.

She loved Bellamy, but thirteen years was a long time, and she wasn’t sure if she could unlearn her dislike for the holiday.

= = = = =

“Just talk to him.”

“It’s not that simple.”

“E. Talk to him.”

“I’m leaving, now.”

“Echo!”

= = = = =

The big day arrived. Echo woke up to a text message on her phone from Bellamy with several heart emojis and smiled despite herself. She tapped out a response, adding some hearteye emojis of her own, then rose to prepare her morning protein smoothie.

While she was adding the protein powder, her phone vibrated again. Echo glanced at it, only to see a message from Roan asking her to check some things at the office for him, since he was going to be busy all day with Luna. She sighed, finishing her smoothie and grabbing a quick shower before getting dressed and heading out the door.

At the office, there was a note pinned to her computer, telling her that she needed to meet with someone in HR. With a groan, Echo swept out of her office and down a flight of stairs.  
Her meeting lasted all of fifteen minutes, and when she returned to her desk there were tiny cutout hearts all over it. Echo arched an eyebrow.

“Ilian?” she asked, sticking her head out the door and looking over at the intern. He glanced over at her. “Did anyone come into my office?”

Ilian shook his head. “Not that I saw. But I did step away for some coffee…”

Echo sighed. “Thanks,” she said, brushing aside the hearts and getting to work. She had a list of things she needed to do for Roan, and Bellamy was expecting her at 1pm for coffee. It would be part one of their Valentines Day date, one she had acquiesced to after his famous puppy dog eyes.

At noon, she was just about finished with her list when someone knocked at her door. “Are you Echo Mendes?” a man asked. Echo nodded, arching an eyebrow once more. “I’m supposed to deliver this.” He handed over a small box. Echo took it and looked inside. There was a large cupcake with pink icing and a note pinned to the side of the box. She lifted the note and read it:

“Echo,

I know you didn’t want much for today, but I couldn’t resist. This cupcake is sweet… just like you.

All my love,

Bellamy”

For the second time that day, she smiled despite herself and set the note aside, picking up the cupcake and nibbling on the frosting. It was delicious, she had to admit.

When it was time to head out for coffee, she left a memo with Ilian to call Ontari if there were any pressing concerns and headed towards the Dropship. There, she nodded at Murphy, the other, more brazen barista.

“Oh, hey, Echo… Bellamy left this for you,” Murphy said, handing her a note. Echo frowned, reading it. Apparently, Bellamy wanted her to meet him at the library instead. She shrugged, handing the note back to Murphy.

“Oh, and he said to give you this,” Murphy added, handing her a cup. She sniffed at it. Hazelnut. Her favourite flavour. On the side of the cup, in Bellamy’s handwriting, was written “I love you a latte”.

“Dork,” Echo murmured, chuckling as she took a sip.

At the library, Emori the librarian gave her a funny smile and directed her to the back where there was a small table set up with a fake candle in the middle. Bellamy was sitting there, a copy of The Odyssey in his hands, while a small pile of textbooks was sitting on the edge of the table.

“Oh, hey there,” Bellamy said, rising and setting down his book, “do you recognize this place?”

Echo frowned, glancing around. Then it hit her. Reference books to her left, atlases to her right.

“This is where we had our first tutoring session,” she breathed, her eyes falling back on Bellamy. “How did you—”

“Amazing memory, remember?” he asked, tapping his temple. Echo laughed, stepping forward and kissing him.

“The cupcake was delicious,” she murmured against his lips, “and the hearts were… thoughtful.”  
Bellamy chuckled, low in his throat. “I’m glad you liked them,” he said, a twinkle in his eye.

The pair spent the hour chatting in the back of the library, then Echo headed back to the office in a considerably better mood than she had been earlier.

On her desk when she returned was a box of chocolates, a vase with a bouquet of roses, and a bottle with a rolled up piece of paper inside. Confused, she tipped out the paper and unrolled it. She immediately blushed.

Bellamy had written out a list of no less than 50 reasons why he loved her.

Echo sat in her huge office chair, her legs drawn up to her chest, and read through every single line. By the end, she wasn’t sure she could smile any more brightly.

= = = = =

That evening, she arrived at Bellamy’s apartment in a red cocktail dress and opened the door with the key he had given her on New Year’s. The first thing she saw was a whole lot of rose petals. The second thing she saw was Bellamy, dressed in a full suit and tie, smiling at her.

“Happy Valentine’s Day,” he said, extending his arms towards her. Echo smiled, stepping forward into his embrace, kissing him.

“You really outdid yourself,” she murmured, tucking her head against his shoulder. There was jazz music playing in the background, and she recognized it as the piece that had been playing in the coffee shop all those months before. He swayed her back and forth, and they danced to the music.

“I know you said you didn’t want much, but… I really wanted to do this all for you. It’s our first Valentines Day, and—”

“Bellamy,” Echo cut him off, pulling away and looking at him straight in the eyes. He gave a noticeable gulp, and her heart went out to him. “I loved every minute of it… and I love you,” she said, smiling at the twinkle that returned to his eyes, the twinkle she loved so much. “I’ve never had someone to spend today with, but… you’ve made it so special.”

Bellamy leaned his forehead against hers for a moment, then backed away. “I have one more thing for you,” he said, grabbing a small box from the coffee table. Echo froze. It looked awfully similar to a—

“Don’t worry, it’s not an engagement ring,” Bellamy assured her, holding it out, “even though I kind of… one day, definitely. But this is different.”

Echo opened the box, gasping at the simple silver band inside. She lifted it out, admiring it from all angles. Engraved underneath were her initials and Bellamy’s.

“Bell…” she breathed. He smiled.

“It’s a promise. One day, I want to make our vows in front of everyone. But now… I want you to know that I am committed to you,” he said, his voice laced with emotion. Echo blinked away a tear that rose to her eye.

“I love it,” she said, beaming at him. Bellamy smiled fondly, pulling her towards him and taking the ring from her. He slipped it on her right hand’s ring finger, meeting her gaze, and kissed her deeply.

As she melted into the kiss, clutching to his lapels, Echo felt like the luckiest woman in the world.

Okay.

Maybe Echo Mendes did do Valentines Day.


End file.
